Monday, 8 May 2017

JA JA NAM DIGE JA- Celebration at Nilachal

On 10th Vaishakh, Lord Jagannath had appead in Thakur Sitaramdas Omkarnathdev’s vision and stated-- ‘JA JA NAAM DIGE JA’ [Go, go, go and spread the Holy Name]…’ This incident has been narrated in ‘Sri Sri Lila Chinta’-Bam dik hote jyoti modhye okomat,Asilen Bhogoban Probhu Jagannath.Bolilen haat nere mridu modhu hese-‘Ja ja Nam dige ja’ Probhur uddese…~~The 'pratyadesh' or 'Divine command' was uttered by Lord Jagannath, while my Thakur was doing tapasya in Srikhetra, The command is a fulfilment of various aspects of Achyutananda's prophesy- viz - the avatar of Omkarnathdev will attain the grace of Nilachalnath, Omkarnathdev will preach the Holy Name, He will have numerous disciples etc. There was no 'necessity' for a command, but my Thakur is Purusottam.. He enacted the Leela just for setting an example-- preaching should always be preceded by divine instruction.This year, like all other years, the ‘JA JA NAM DIGE JA’ celebration at Nilachal Ashram and Lila Kunj [Puri] was soaked in divine ecstasy. On the 9th of Vaishakh [23rd April], devotees started to gather at Nilachal Asram from the morning. After Anna Prasadam at noon, there was a Dharma Sabha. Then, “OMKAR LEELA GATHA”, the musical biography [Geeti Alekhya] of Thakur, followed by Violin and Flute performance, was staged as a homage to HIS lotus feet. The day ended with Prasadam at night, with enthusiasm for the Nagar Kirtan next morning.A large procession of Nam Sankirtan flooded the streets of Puri on the morning of 10TH Baisakh, and elated devotees were dancing, singing, shedding tears of bliss.The procession was graced by the auspicious presence of Kinkar Sevananda Ji, Kinkar Biragananda ji, Kinkar Sharananandaji, Sri Sudhir ji [Pararapar Guru bari], Sanyasi disciples of Sri Sri Parankush Swamiji [Ram Swamiji, Gour Swamiji and Chandramohan Swamiji], relatives of Thakur, many saints, honorable persons, innumerable devotees… Kinkar Namananda ji [Benu da] flagged off the beginning of this Kirtan and returned to Asram for other preparations. The Nagar Kirtan marched from Nilachal Asram, to Lila Kunja, then to Jagannath temple, thereafter it came to Sarojini Math [hermitage of holy mothers] and then back to Nilachal Asram. Soon, Kinkar Samananda ji [Secretary of Akhil Bharat Jaiguru Sampraday] arrived. After having morning Prasadam, devotees gathered in front of the podium for listening to Dharma Sabha. Kinkar Samananda ji recollected the inner significance of Thakur’s Jagannath Darshan, mentioning that ‘Thakur had already shown Viswarup to His own Gurudev, and had revealed Ista Darshan to others, had already started Nam prachar—so was there any real need of divine command for Thakur? For Thakur, it was a sort of Self Visualization—as Thakur is no one different—He just performed this leela to teach us that Divine command is necessary for preaching. Moreover, the Namprachar Leela of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had paused at Nilachal—and that Namprachar leela rejuvenated through Thakur at Nilachal itself, with Lord Jagannath a witness...’ Kinkar Samananda ji also recollected sweet memories with Thakur, and mentioned that in Puri itself, Thakur’s love and Nam Prachar had transformed many people, including fishermen, lower castes, foreigners, poor and downtrodden and so on… so the message of JA JA NAAM DIGE JA’ has attained fulfillment indeed~! The others speakers [Sri Sudhirji, Sri Gour Swamiji, Sri Biraganandaji, Sri Hari Har Hota, Sri Samiran Mukhopadhyay, and others] also gave their valuable inputs related to Thakur’s glory, and the significance of this festival. In the evening, Sri Narayan Mukhopadhyay and team staged a wonderful drama ‘Tulsidas’ based on extracts from Thakur’s composition “Dasya Madhur”.